Hydrogen

Audi Shows H-Tron Fuel Cell Concept

Audi presented its H-Tron Quattro hydrogen fuel cell concept it claims can reach more than 370 miles on a single fill-up at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.

The vehicle has all-electric drive using hydrogen as its energy source. It combines fuel cell technology delivering up to 110 kilowatts with a battery that provides a temporary boost of up to 100 kilowatts.

Two electric motors on the front and rear axles power the vehicle with electrified all-wheel drive. Output for the electric motor on the front axle is 90 kilowatts, while the rear counterpart is 140 kilowatts. The SUV accelerates from 0-62.1 mph in under seven seconds. Its hydrogen tanks can be refueled safely and easily in around four minutes with a range of up to 600 kilometers (372.8 miles).

The Audi H-Tron Quattro concept also provides a taste of the technologies for piloted driving and parking that will go into production in 2017 with the next generation of the Audi A8 full-size sedan. Piloted driving at Audi revolves around the central driver assistance controller (zFAS).

It computes a model of the car’s surroundings in real time and makes this information available to the assistance systems and the piloted driving and parking systems. The latter can assume driving tasks during parking or in stop-and-go traffic on freeways at speeds of up to 37.3 mph.

Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest $6.7 billion in hydrogen fuel cell technology and hopes to produce 700,000 fuel cell systems each year by 2030. Hyundai, which owns about 33% of Kia Motor Corp., plans to install 500,000 of those in Hyundai and Kia vehicles.

Toyota's Mirai will add a pair of safety packages for the 2019 model year, as the company continues to offer the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle mostly on retail leases to private owners, according to the company.